Wireless interface extension for mobile devices

ABSTRACT

A wireless interface extension for mobile devices is provided. The wireless interface extension includes a user interface, a wireless communication link, and a processor. The processor communicates with a mobile device over the wireless communication link and enables a user to use the user interface to interact with at least one user application on the mobile device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

None.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX

Not applicable.

BACKGROUND

Mobile devices have the capability to execute a wide variety of userapplications. However, the utility of many user applications is limitedby the size of the displays and input controls for mobile devices, whichmake many user interactions more difficult. Furthermore, mobile devicecommunications are often interrupted, which interrupts the utility ofmany user applications. Finally, interacting with large amounts ofcontent from mobile device communications is also difficult due tostorage limitations for mobile devices.

SUMMARY

Accordingly, the present disclosure provides systems and methods for awireless interface extension for mobile devices. In some embodiments,the disclosed wireless interface extension includes a user interface, awireless communication link, and a processor. The processor communicateswith a mobile device over the wireless communication link and enables auser to use the user interface to interact with at least one userapplication on the mobile device.

In some embodiments, the methods disclosed herein include displaying agraphical user interface for a mobile device application on a wirelessinterface extension, receiving user input via the wireless extension,and communicating the user input to at least one user application on amobile device over a wireless communication link.

In some embodiments, the system includes a mobile device configured tooperate with a wireless interface extension. The mobile device includesa wireless communication link; a user interface, and a processor. Theuser interface enables a user to communicate with at least one userapplication on the mobile device. The processor communicates activity ofthe at least one user application to the wireless interface extensionover the wireless communication link.

These and other features and advantages will be more clearly understoodfrom the following detailed description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the presentation and the advantagesthereof, reference is now made to the following brief description, takenin connection with the accompanying drawings in detailed description,wherein like reference numerals represent like parts.

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative mobile device wireless interface extensionmounted on the dashboard of an automobile.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of an illustrative software configurationfor a mobile device according to some embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a system for a wireless interfaceextension according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of a method for a wireless interface extensionaccording to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of an illustrative mobile device.

FIG. 6 shows an illustrative general purpose computer system suitablefor implementing portions of the several embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It should be understood at the outset that although implementations ofvarious embodiments of the present disclosure are described below, thepresent system may be implemented using any number of techniques,whether currently known or in existence. The present disclosure shouldin no way be limited to the implementations, drawings, and techniquesdescribed below, but may be modified within the scope of the appendedclaims along with their full scope of equivalents.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide systems and methods for awireless interface extension for mobile devices. In some embodiments,this interface extension provides a large, versatile user interfacethrough which a user can control his mobile device and the variousapplications running thereon. For example, the user of the interfaceextension may leverage a navigation application on a mobile phone, withthe interface extension displaying navigation directions on a screensignificantly larger than the mobile phone screen. In another example,the user of the interface extension may leverage a game application on amobile phone for her children to play on the interface extension in herautomobile. In addition, the interface extension may provide additionalstorage and processing power to enable the wireless interface extensionto output content to the user when the mobile device is notcommunicating with a mobile device network.

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative wireless interface extension 100 mounted onthe dashboard of an automobile in communication with an illustrativemobile device 102 of one of the occupants. Though illustrated as amobile phone, the mobile device 102 may take various forms including apersonal digital assistant (PDA), a digital camera, and a digital musicplayer. Many suitable mobile devices combine some or all of thesefunctions.

The mobile device 102 includes a display 104 and a touch-sensitivesurface or keys 106 with which to interact with a user. The user mayalso interact with the mobile device 102 using the illustrative wirelessinterface extension 100 to communicate with the mobile device 102, whichis described in greater detail below with reference to FIG. 3. Inalternative embodiments, the wireless interface extension maycommunicate with multiple mobile devices in turn or concurrently. Themobile device(s) preferably communicate wirelessly with the wirelessinterface extension 100 using, e.g., Bluetooth or other suitableprotocols.

Although depicted as mounted on the dashboard of an automobile, thewireless interface extension 100 may be mobile and may be taken with themobile device 102 to other locations. The wireless interface extension100 may include a touch screen that provides the functions of thedisplay 104 and the touch-sensitive surface 106 for the user. For amobile device 102 with the capability of inputting voice commands tocommunicate with user applications, the wireless interface extension 100may include an audio input to input voice commands to communicate withuser applications.

In interacting with a user, the mobile device 102 may present optionsfor the user to select, controls for the user to actuate, and/or cursorsor other indicators for the user to operate, either directly through themobile device 102 or indirectly through the wireless interface extension100. The mobile device 102 may further accept data entry from the userdirectly or indirectly, including numbers to dial or various parametervalues for configuring the operation of the mobile device 102. Themobile device 102 may further execute one or more software or firmwareapplications in response to user commands. These user applications mayconfigure the mobile device 102 to perform various customized functionsin response to user interaction.

Because the wireless interface extension 100 leverages the mobile device102 by enhancing and extending the capabilities of the mobile device102, the wireless interface extension 100 is not necessarily astand-alone component. Consequently, some embodiments of the wirelessinterface extension 100 may not have means for directly communicatingwith a cellular network or directly receiving broadcast television,radio, or satellite signals. Therefore, the user has no need todistribute new contact information for the wireless interface extension100, nor to pay separate expenses for services supporting the wirelessinterface extension 100. For example, the user of the wireless interfaceextension 100 who leverages a navigation application on a mobile phonehas no need to pay for a separate navigation service for her automobile.In another example, the user of the wireless interface extension 100 wholeverages a game application on a mobile phone has no need to purchase aseparate game device for her children to play in her automobile.

The mobile device 102 may communicate through a cell tower 108 and awired network 110 to make phone calls or to access information onvarious servers, such as a server 112. While one server is shown in FIG.1, other servers could be present. The server 112 may communicate withthe mobile device 102 through the wired network 110 and the cell tower108 by a standard wireless telephony protocol (such as code divisionmultiple access), a wireless internet connection, or some other means ofwireless communication.

FIG. 2 illustrates a software environment 202 that may be implemented bya processor in the mobile device 102. The processor executes operatingsystem software 204 that provides a platform from which the rest of thesoftware operates. The operating system software 204 provides driversfor the mobile device hardware with standardized interfaces that areaccessible to user application software. The operating system software204 includes a web browser application 206, a media player application208, Java applets 210, and an extension connector 212 application. Theweb browser application 206 configures the mobile device 102 to operateas a web browser, allowing the user to enter information into forms andselect links to retrieve and view web pages. The media playerapplication 208 configures the mobile device to retrieve and play audioor audiovisual media on its own output components or on the wirelessinterface extension 100. The Java applets 210 may configure the mobiledevice 102 to provide games, utilities, and other functionality on themobile device 102 or on the wireless interface extension 100.

The extension connector 212 application is a component (or in someembodiments, a stand-alone application) that wirelessly connects themobile device 102 to the wireless interface extension 100 to extend thecapabilities of the mobile device 102. The extension connector 212application obtains user input from the keys 106, a keypad, amicrophone, a liquid crystal display (LCD) with a touch sensitivesurface through a touch screen/LCD controller, joysticks, or other inputdevices. In response to user input, the extension connector 212application may establish communications between the mobile device 102and the wireless interface extension 100 to output content to theenhancement extension 100 for the user. After communications areestablished between the mobile device 102 and the wireless interfaceextension 100, the mobile device 102 may receive user input through thewireless interface extension 100 or continue to receive input throughinputs for the mobile device 102.

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a system for the wireless interfaceextension 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Thewireless interface extension 100 contains a processor 302, a wirelesscommunication link 304, a memory 306, and a user interface 308. Theprocessor 302 communicates with the mobile device 102 over the wirelesscommunication link 304. The processor 302 may store content from thecommunications over the wireless communication link 304 in the memory306, which can include cache and random access memory. For example, thecontent stored may include voice mail, text messaging, ring-tones,calendars, games, video, electronic mail, navigation information, music,radio transmissions, television transmissions, and global position.

The user interface 308 enables a user to interface with the content orto communicate with at least one of the user applications 310 on themobile device 102. The user applications 310 may include at least one ofthe following applications for users: camera, ring-tone selection,calendar, games, instant messenger, video, web browser, electronic mail,navigation, music, radio, television, and global positioning.

By having stored content in the memory 306, the processor 302 may outputthe stored content from the memory 306 to the user interface 308 whenthe mobile device 102 is not communicating with the mobile devicenetwork 108. For example, if the mobile device 102 retrieves videocontent from the mobile device network 108, the processor 302 may storethe video in the memory 306 such that the video content may be viewed atany time selected by the user, long after the time that the videocontent is retrieved.

The capability to output the stored content from the memory 306 alsoenables the processor 302 to output content to the user interface 308 ina continuous stream, eliminating many output problems based oninterrupted or discontinuous communications between the mobile device102 and the mobile device network 108. For example, if the mobile device102 is in the process of retrieving video content from the mobile devicenetwork 108, the processor 302 may store the video content in a cache inthe memory 306 such that the video content may be buffered forcontinuous output to the user interface 308. If communications betweenthe mobile device 102 and the mobile device network 108 are temporarilyinterrupted, the output to the user interface 308 may continueuninterrupted until communications between the mobile device 102 and themobile device network 108 are re-established or until all of the contentstored in the cache in the memory 306 is output to the user interface308.

The user interface 308 may include a visual output device, which is atouch screen 312 in some embodiments of the present disclosure, an audiooutput device 314, and an audio input device 316. The touch screen 312may provide the functions of the display 104 and the touch-sensitivesurface 106 for the user. In some embodiments of the present disclosure,the visual output device is a display device that provides only thefunctions of the display 104. The visual output device 312, the audiooutput device 314, and the audio input device 316 for the user interface308 are enhanced relative to the display 104, the audio output device,and the microphone for the mobile device 102. The visual output device312 may be significantly larger than the display 104, and have asignificantly higher resolution than the display 104. The audio outputdevice 314 may have significantly greater volume, clarity, and rangethan the audio output device for the mobile device 102. The audio inputdevice 316 may have significantly greater sensitivity and clarity thanthe microphone for the mobile device 102. In some embodiments, the audiooutput device 314 may connect to a multi-channel speaker system builtinto an automobile, while the audio input device 316 may include amicrophone array with noise cancellation features.

In the case where the mobile device 102 is a mobile telephone handset,communication between the wireless interface extension 100 and themobile device 102 may occur via standard short-range communicationsprotocols, such as a radio frequency signal, an infrared signal, anultrasonic signal, or other means of wireless communication. In someembodiments, communication occurs with a broadband personal area networkprotocol, such as Bluetooth.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for the wireless interfaceextension 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.Executing the method enables a mobile device user to extend theusefulness of the mobile device 102 to the wireless interface extension100, and permits interaction through the wireless interface extension100 or the mobile device 102 with content communicated on the mobiledevice 102.

In box 402, the wireless interface extension 100 communicates with themobile device 102 over the wireless communication link 304. The user mayestablish this communication by activating the extension connector 212application by user input through the keys 106 or a microphone.

In box 404, the wireless interface extension 100 determines whethercontrol is directed from the mobile device 102. When the user activatesthe extension connector 212 application through user input from the keys106 or a microphone, the user may select the option of whether controlis directed from the mobile device 102 or whether control is directedfrom the wireless interface extension 100. If the wireless interfaceextension 100 determines that control is directed from the mobile device102, the method continues to box 406. If the wireless interfaceextension 100 determines that control is not directed from the mobiledevice 102, the method proceeds to box 408.

In box 406, the mobile device 102 receives control directly from themobile device 102, such as through the keys 106 or a microphone, tocontrol communications over the wireless communication link 304. Thenthe method proceeds to box 410.

In box 408, the mobile device 102 receives control directly from thewireless interface extension 100. The wireless interface extension 100may output content to the user and receive input from the user throughthe touch screen 312. If control is not directed from the mobile device102, the user may select an option through the touch screen 312 toreturn control to the mobile device 102.

In box 410, the wireless interface extension 100 enables the user tocommunicate with at least one of the user applications 310 on the mobiledevice 102. For example, the user may communicate with the userapplications 310 on the mobile device by controlling communications overthe wireless link 304 by user input through the mobile device 102 or thewireless interface extension 100. Through either type of communicationcontrol, the user may communicate with at least one of the userapplications 310. For example, the user may provide input on the keys106 on the mobile device 102 to control a television application on themobile device 102 that is output to the wireless interface extension100. In another example, the user may provide input on the touch screen312 of the wireless interface extension 100 to control a navigationapplication on the mobile device that is output to the touch screen 312.

The menu options for a user application displayed on the touch screen312 of the wireless interface extension 100 may appear similar to themenu options for the user application displayed on the display 104 ofthe mobile device 102. Alternatively, the menu options displayed on thewireless interface extension 100 may take advantage of the larger touchscreen 312 to display a larger number of menu options than are availablefor viewing at one time on the display 104 for the mobile device 102.Similarly, the output of the user application may take advantage of thelarger user interface 308 to display a larger amount of content than isavailable for display at one time on the mobile device 102, such as alarger navigation map for a driver of an automobile. Because of thepotentially differing outputs and inputs to the user interface 308 onthe wireless interface extension 100, the processor 302 on the wirelessinterface extension 100 may process user inputs to the user interface308 to convert these inputs to forms recognized by the user applications310 on the mobile device 102.

In box 412, the wireless interface extension 100 determines whether todelay outputting specific content to the user. The specific content fordelayed output may be specified by a lack of communication between themobile device 102 with the mobile device network 108 or by input fromthe user on the mobile device 102 or on the wireless interface extension100. If the wireless interface extension 100 determines to delayoutputting specific content to the user, the method continues to box414. If the wireless interface extension 100 determines to not delayoutputting specific content to the user, the method returns to box 404to determine whether control is directed from the mobile device 102.

In box 414, the wireless interface extension 100 stores specific contentfrom communications over the wireless communication link 304 in thememory 306. By storing specific content in the memory 306, the wirelessinterface extension 100 may output the stored specific content at alater time or output the specific content continuously even when themobile device 102 is not communicating with the mobile device network108.

In box 416, the wireless interface extension 100 outputs stored specificcontent from the memory 306 to the user interface 308, even when themobile device 102 is not communicating with mobile device network 108.For example, the wireless interface extension 100 may store game contentfrom communications with a game application on the mobile device 102 andoutput the game content stored in the memory 306 to the touch screen 312when later requested by the user. Multiple users may each use a separatemobile device to play the game by interacting with the game content thatis output to the user interface 308.

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of the mobile device 102. The mobile device102 is configured to operate with the wireless interface extension 100.The mobile device 102 includes a digital signal processor (DSP) 502 anda memory 504. As shown, the mobile device 102 may further include anantenna and front end unit 506, a radio frequency (RF) transceiver 508,an analog baseband processing unit 510, a microphone 512, an earpiecespeaker 514, a headset port 516, an input/output interface 518, a memorycard 520, a universal serial bus (USB) port 522, an infrared port 524, avibrator 526, a keypad 528, a liquid crystal display (LCD) with a touchsensitive surface 530, a touch screen/LCD controller 532, acharge-coupled device (CCD) camera 534, a camera controller 536, and aglobal positioning system (GPS) sensor 538.

The DSP 502 or some other form of controller or central processing unitoperates to control the various components of the mobile device 102 inaccordance with embedded software or firmware stored in the memory 504.In addition to the embedded software or firmware, the DSP 502 mayexecute other user applications stored in the memory 504 or madeavailable via information carrier media such as portable data storagemedia like the memory card 520 or via wired or wireless networkcommunications. The user application software may comprise a compiledset of machine-readable instructions that configure the DSP 502 toprovide the desired functionality, or the user application software maybe high-level software instructions to be processed by an interpreter orcompiler to indirectly configure the DSP 502.

The antenna and front end unit 506 may be provided to convert betweenwireless signals and electrical signals, enabling the mobile device 102to send and receive information from a cellular network or some otheravailable wireless communications network, and to send and receiveinformation from the wireless interface extension 100. The RFtransceiver 508 provides frequency shifting, e.g., converting receivedRF signals to baseband and converting baseband transmit signals to RF.The analog baseband processing unit 510 may provide channel equalizationand signal demodulation to extract information from received signals,may modulate information to create transmit signals, and may provideanalog filtering for audio signals. To that end, the analog basebandprocessing unit 510 may have ports for connecting to the built-inmicrophone 512 and the earpiece speaker 514 that enable the mobiledevice 102 to be used as a cell phone. The analog baseband processingunit 510 may further include a port for connecting to a headset or otherhands-free microphone and speaker configuration. The audio output device314 for the wireless interface extension 100 may have greater volume,clarity, and range than the headset or the speaker configurationconnected by the port to the analog baseband processing unit 510 or theearpiece speaker 514. The audio input device 316 for the wirelessinterface extension 100 may have greater sensitivity and clarity thanthe headset connected by the port to the analog baseband processing unit510 or the microphone 512.

The DSP 502 may send and receive digital communications with a wirelessnetwork via the analog baseband processing unit 510. In someembodiments, these digital communications may provide Internetconnectivity, enabling a user to gain access to content on the Internetand to send and receive e-mail or text messages. The input/outputinterface 518 interconnects the DSP 502 and various memories andinterfaces. The memory 504 and the removable memory card 520 may providesoftware and data to configure the operation of the DSP 502. Among theinterfaces may be the USB interface 522 and the infrared port 524. TheUSB interface 522 may enable the mobile device 102 to function as aperipheral device to exchange information with a personal computer orother computer system. The infrared port 524 and other optional portssuch as a Bluetooth interface or an IEEE 802.11 compliant wirelessinterface may enable the mobile device 102 to communicate wirelesslywith the wireless interface extension 100, other nearby mobile devices,and/or wireless base stations. By using a secure interface, such as theBluetooth interface, the mobile device 102 may securely communicate withthe wireless interface extension 100 such that other communicationreceivers may not access these secure communications. In somecontemplated systems, the mobile device 102 is able to wirelesslyexchange information at a point-of-sale when placed near a suitabletransceiver.

The input/output interface 518 may further connect the DSP 502 to thevibrator 526 that, when triggered, causes the mobile device 102 tovibrate. The vibrator 526 may serve as a mechanism for silently alertingthe user to any of various events such as an incoming call, a new textmessage, and an appointment reminder.

The keypad 528 couples to the DSP 502 via the I/O interface 518 toprovide one mechanism for the user to make selections, enterinformation, and otherwise provide input to the mobile device 102.Another input mechanism may be the touch screen display 530, which mayalso display text and/or graphics to the user. The display controller532 couples the DSP 502 to the touch screen display 530. Yet anotherinput mechanism for the mobile device 102 may be the touch screen 312.The touch screen 312 for the wireless interface extension 100 may belarger and have greater resolution than the touch screen display 530.

The CCD camera 534 enables the mobile device 102 to take digitalpictures. The DSP 502 communicates with the camera 534 via the cameracontroller 536. The GPS sensor 538 is coupled to the DSP 502 to decodeglobal positioning system signals, thereby enabling the mobile device102 to determine its position. In addition to the wireless interfaceextension 100, various peripherals may also be included to provideadditional functions, e.g., radio and television reception.

Parts of the system described above may be implemented on anygeneral-purpose computer with sufficient processing power, memoryresources, and network throughput capability to handle the necessaryworkload placed upon it. FIG. 6 illustrates a computer 680, which issuitable for implementing one or more wireless interface extensionembodiments disclosed herein. The computer 680 includes the processor302 (which may be referred to as a central processor unit or CPU) thatis in communication with memory devices including secondary storage 684,read only memory (ROM) 686, random access memory (RAM) 688, input/output(I/O) 690 devices, and network connectivity devices 692. The processor302 may be implemented as one or more CPU chips. The ROM 686 and the RAM688 may be part of the memory 306. The network connectivity devices mayinclude the wireless communication link 304.

The secondary storage 684 is typically comprised of one or more diskdrives or tape drives and is used for non-volatile storage of data andas an over-flow data storage device if RAM 688 is not large enough tohold all working data. Secondary storage 684 may be used to storeprograms which are loaded into RAM 688 when such programs are selectedfor execution. The ROM 686 is used to store instructions and perhapsdata which are read during program execution. ROM 686 is a non-volatilememory device which typically has a small memory capacity relative tothe larger memory capacity of the secondary storage 684. The RAM 688 isused to store volatile data and perhaps to store instructions. Access toboth ROM 686 and RAM 688 is typically faster than to secondary storage684.

I/O 690 devices may include the wireless communication link 304, thetouch screen 312, the audio output device 314, the audio input device316, printers, video monitors, liquid crystal displays (LCDs),keyboards, keypads, switches, dials, mice, track balls, voicerecognizers, card readers, paper tape readers, or other well-known inputdevices. The network connectivity devices 692 may take the form of touchscreens, speakers, microphones, modems, modem banks, ethernet cards,universal serial bus (USB) interface cards, serial interfaces, tokenring cards, fiber distributed data interface (FDDI) cards, wirelesslocal area network (WLAN) cards, radio transceiver cards such as codedivision multiple access (CDMA) and/or global system for mobilecommunications (GSM) radio transceiver cards, and other well-knownnetwork devices. These network connectivity 692 devices may enable theprocessor 302 to communicate with an Internet or one or more intranetsthrough the mobile device 102. With such a network connection, it iscontemplated that the processor 302 might receive information from thenetwork, or might output information to the network in the course ofperforming the above-described method steps. Such information, which isoften represented as a sequence of instructions to be executed using theprocessor 302, may be received from and outputted to the network, forexample, in the form of a computer data signal embodied in a carrierwave.

Such information, which may include data or instructions to be executedusing the processor 302 for example, may be received from and outputtedto the network, for example, in the form of a computer data basebandsignal or signal embodied in a carrier wave. The baseband signal orsignal embodied in the carrier wave generated by the networkconnectivity 692 devices may propagate in or on the surface ofelectrical conductors, in coaxial cables, in waveguides, in opticalmedia, for example optical fiber, or in the air or free space. Theinformation contained in the baseband signal or signal embedded in thecarrier wave may be ordered according to different sequences, as may bedesirable for either processing or generating the information ortransmitting or receiving the information. The baseband signal or signalembedded in the carrier wave, or other types of signals currently usedor hereafter developed, referred to herein as the transmission medium,may be generated according to several methods well known to one skilledin the art.

The processor 302 executes instructions, codes, computer programs,scripts which it accesses from hard disk, floppy disk, optical disk(these various disk based systems may all be considered secondarystorage 684), ROM 686, RAM 688, or the network connectivity devices 692.

While several embodiments have been provided in the present disclosure,it should be understood that the disclosed systems and methods may beembodied in many other specific forms without departing from the spiritor scope of the present disclosure. The present examples are to beconsidered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the intention is notto be limited to the details given herein, but may be modified withinthe scope of the appended claims along with their full scope ofequivalents. For example, the various elements or components may becombined or integrated in another system or certain features may beomitted, or not implemented.

Also, techniques, systems, subsystems and methods described andillustrated in the various embodiments as discrete or separate may becombined or integrated with other systems, modules, techniques, ormethods without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.Other items shown or discussed as directly coupled or communicating witheach other may be coupled through some interface or device, such thatthe items may no longer be considered directly coupled to each other butmay still be indirectly coupled and in communication, whetherelectrically, mechanically, or otherwise with one another. Otherexamples of changes, substitutions, and alterations are ascertainable byone skilled in the art and could be made without departing from thespirit and scope disclosed herein.

1. A wireless interface display extension for mobile devices,comprising: a user interface; a short range wireless communication link;and a processor that communicates with a first one of the mobile devicesover the wireless communication link, and outputs to the user interfacedisplay content of the at least one user application on the first one ofthe mobile devices, wherein interactions with the content output to theuser interface are controlled by user input from at least a second oneof the mobile devices that is received over the wireless communicationlink.
 2. The wireless interface extension of claim 1 wherein the userinterface includes a touch screen to output content to a user of thewireless interface extension and receive input from the user of thewireless interface extension.
 3. The wireless interface extension ofclaim 2 wherein communications over the wireless communication link arecontrolled by input from the user of the wireless interface extension onthe touch screen.
 4. The wireless interface extension of claim 1 furthercomprising a memory, wherein the processor stores content that the oneof the mobile devices received over a mobile device network in thememory and outputs the content from the memory to the user interface. 5.The wireless interface extension of claim 4, wherein the content thatthe one of the mobile devices received over the mobile device networkcomprises streaming content received over the mobile device network,wherein storing the content in the memory comprises buffering thestreaming content in the memory, and wherein outputting the content fromthe memory to the user interface comprises continuously outputting thestreaming content buffered in the memory to the user interfaceregardless of whether the one of the mobile devices is communicatingwith the mobile device network.
 6. The wireless interface extension ofclaim 1 wherein the user interface comprises a visual output device andan audio output device that are enhanced relative to a visual outputdevice and an audio output device for the one of the mobile devices. 7.The wireless interface extension of claim 1 wherein the at least oneuser application on the one of the mobile devices comprises at least oneof camera, ring-tone selection, calendar, games, instant messenger,video, web browser, electronic mail, navigation, music, radio,television, and global positioning.
 8. The wireless interface extensionof claim 1, wherein the user interface displays a larger amount ofcontent than is available for display at one time on the one of themobile devices.
 9. The wireless interface extension of claim 8, whereinthe processor processes a user input to the user interface to convertthe user input to a form recognized by the at least one user applicationon the one of the mobile devices.
 10. A mobile device interfaceenhancement method, comprising: displaying on a wireless interfaceextension a graphical user interface associated with at least one userapplication on a mobile device, wherein the displaying furthercomprises: storing, in a memory of the wireless interface extension,streaming content received by the mobile device over a mobile devicenetwork, wherein storing the content in the memory comprises bufferingthe streaming content in the memory, the memory physically disconnectedfrom the mobile device and communication between the mobile device andthe memory is conducted over a short range wireless communication link;and outputting the streaming content from the memory to the graphicaluser interface regardless of whether the mobile device is communicatingwith the mobile device network; receiving a user input via the wirelessinterface extension; and communicating the user input to the at leastone user application on the mobile device over the wirelesscommunication link.
 11. The method of claim 10 wherein receiving theuser input via the wireless interface extension comprises receiving userinput through a touch screen.
 12. The method of claim 10 furthercomprising receiving the user input via input from the user on themobile device.
 13. A mobile device comprising: a short range wirelesscommunication link; a user interface to enable a user to communicatewith at least one user application on the mobile device; and a processorto communicate activity of the at least one user application to adisplay of the least one user application on a wireless interfaceextension, wherein the processor communicates the activity over thewireless communication link, and wherein communications over thewireless communication link are controlled by input from the user on theuser interface of the mobile device, and wherein at least some functionsof the at least one user application are controlled by user input onanother mobile device received from the wireless interface extension.14. The mobile device of claim 13 wherein the wireless interfaceextension further comprises a touch screen to output content to the userand receive input from the user.
 15. The mobile device of claim 14wherein communications over the wireless communication link arecontrolled by input from the user on the touch screen.
 16. The mobiledevice of claim 13 wherein the wireless interface extension furtherstores content that the mobile device received over a mobile devicenetwork in a memory and outputs the content to the display of the leastone user application on the wireless interface extension.